A Study on Integrating Interaction Design into Industrial Design Processes

The digital revolution is dramatically changing our world, and the ubiquitous applications of computer in our lives have made digital technology an indispensable part of the infrastructure of our living environment. Digital technology is being cleverly embedded in various products to enhance their performance, allowing the resultant products to possess the properties of both physical and computing entities. The shifting nature of products has expanded the realm of industrial design to direct its course toward the design of interaction design. Furthermore, it has reshaped the product-development process and coordination of teamwork. While the digital revolution is still progressing, this study sought to propose an innovative product-development process suitable for the post-pc era. In this research, the curricula integrating industrial design and interaction design of design-school and university programs were first reviewed, while several user-interaction oriented processes of product development adopted by the industries were also examined. The contents and procedures of user-interaction design then were further analyzed. Accordingly, an innovative operational approach that integrates interaction design with industrial design was proposed. At the end, the proposed flowchart was verified and polished by the trial of its application to a practical case. The proposed new approach can be used in studio-based curricula, and its previous trials had produced encouraging and valuable results. It is hoped that, through integrating the new approach into school curricula or increasing its application within the industries, this research may inspire the designers to keep comprehensive perspectives as they embark on a new project. In addition, this research intends to encourage a new thinking in design education and methodology, as well as in product development.